The lockdown wasn’t bad for Bob Dylan, and maybe even fruitful as the singer changed some old floor tiles in his house, wrote a song, and rediscovered how Frank Zappa was ahead of his time. The singer recently discussed Zappa’s musical genius with the Wall Street Journal and disclosed the songs which made him think Zappa, maybe, was born into the wrong generation.
“It was a very surrealistic time, like being visited by another planet or by some mythical monster,” Dylan said as he answered what the lockdown was like for him. “But it was beneficial in a lot of ways, too. It eliminated a lot of hassles and personal needs; it was good having no clock. A good time to put some things to an end.”
Bob had made some not-too-radical changes in his life during that time. He remarked, “I changed the door panels on an old 56 Chevy, and replaced some old floor tiles, made some landscape paintings, wrote a song called ‘You Don’t Say.’ I listened to Peggy Lee records. Things like that.”
The singer had also appreciated some good old poetry as he continued, “I reread ‘Rime of the Ancient Mariner’ a few times over. What a story that is. What a poem. If there’d been any opium lying around, I probably would have been down for a while.”
During the lockdown, Bob also rediscovered Zappa and appreciated the late musician. Dylan added, “I listened to The Mothers of Invention record ‘Freak Out!,’ that I hadn’t heard in a long, long time. What an eloquent record. ‘Hungry Freaks, Daddy,’ and the other one, ‘Who Are the Brain Police?’ are perfect songs for the pandemic. No doubt about it, Zappa was light years ahead of his time. I’ve always thought that.”
So, while Bob Dylan was locked inside his house during the pandemic, the musician tried to make the best of it by changing the old panel doors of his car, replacing some old floor tiles, writing a song, and listening to some good music which made him appreciate Zappa’s musical genius even further.
